{"id":255173,"date":"2026-04-16T13:44:02","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T12:44:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/?p=255173"},"modified":"2026-04-17T17:23:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T16:23:14","slug":"how-mrs-green-apples-dominance-in-japan-is-driving-a-global-breakthrough-for-the-umg-signed-band","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/how-mrs-green-apples-dominance-in-japan-is-driving-a-global-breakthrough-for-the-umg-signed-band\/","title":{"rendered":"How Mrs. GREEN APPLE’s dominance in Japan is driving a global breakthrough for the UMG-signed band"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mrs. GREEN APPLE have featured on Universal Music Group’s list of global top sellers in each of the company’s past four consecutive quarterly earnings reports \u2013 the only Japanese act to do so.<\/p>\n

The three-piece rock group, comprising vocalist\/guitarist Motoki Ohmori<\/b>, guitarist Hiloto Wakai<\/b>, and keyboardist Ryoka Fujisawa<\/b>, were highlighted alongside global superstars including Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, Sabrina Carpenter, and Morgan Wallen throughout 2025.<\/p>\n

In February, the IFPI confirmed why. Mrs. GREEN APPLE<\/strong> placed at No.13 on the Global Artist Chart for 2025,<\/a> the organization’s list of the best\u2013selling recording artists worldwide. It’s the highest position a Japanese act has achieved on the annual ranking.<\/p>\n

The band’s anniversary greatest-hits album, 10<\/i>, placed at No. 10 on the IFPI’s Global Album Chart, having sold over 1 million<\/strong> copies.<\/p>\n

What’s remarkable about these global chart positions is that they were achieved almost entirely through domestic consumption<\/strong> in a single market (Japan), with no dedicated international marketing campaign.<\/p>\n

Mrs. GREEN APPLE sat between Tyler, The Creator<\/b> (No. 12) and SEVENTEEN<\/b> (No. 14) on the IFPI Global Artist chart, a list otherwise made up of Western superstars and K-pop acts. They were the only Japanese artist to appear, and the highest-charting non-Korean, non-Latin international act.<\/p>\n

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“I’m so thrilled to see Mrs. GREEN APPLE delivering such massive hits and watching their fan base continuing to grow,” UMG Chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge<\/b> tells MBW.<\/p>\n

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Photo: Austin Hargrave<\/figcaption><\/figure>

\u00a0“They are a band in the truest sense, and we are eager to bring their music to more fans across the globe.”<\/p>\n

Sir Lucian Grainge<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Added Grainge: “I’ve had the opportunity to get to know them during their trips to the US, and their commitment, passion and drive is so impressive,” he adds.<\/p>\n

“They are a band in the truest sense, and we are eager to bring their music to more fans across the globe.”<\/p>\n

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Mrs. GREEN APPLE’s domestic success, which is propelling them globally, arrives against a backdrop of Japan’s recorded music market returning to growth in 2025, expanding 8.9% year-on-year<\/b> <\/span>after a flat 2024, according to the IFPI’s Global Music Report 2026<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Japan remains the world’s second-largest recorded music market after the US, and the largest globally for physical music, with Asia accounting for 45.1%<\/b> of global physical revenues.<\/p>\n

Physical revenue growth outpaced digital globally for only the second time on record last year, and Japan’s rebound was a primary driver behind that recovery, the IFPI said.<\/p>\n

UMG confirms that Mrs. GREEN APPLE were Japan’s No.1 top-selling act last year, and the No. 2 act in Asia behind only South Korea’s Stray Kids, who IFPI confirmed were the second biggest-selling<\/span><\/a> global recording artist in 2025.<\/p>\n

Mrs. GREEN APPLE are central to both sides of Japan’s market: the enduring strength of physical sales<\/strong> and the accelerating growth<\/strong> of<\/strong> streaming<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In July 2025, the band became the first act in J-pop history to surpass 10 billion cumulative domestic streams<\/span><\/a>, according to Billboard Japan. By early 2026, that figure had passed 16 billion<\/span><\/a> \u2013 again, the first Japanese artist to reach that threshold.<\/p>\n

Their single Lilac<\/i>, released in April 2024 as the opening theme for the anime Oblivion Battery<\/i>, became the fastest song in Japanese market history to reach 100 million streams<\/span><\/a>, doing so in 10 weeks. It finished as the No. 1 song on both the Oricon and Billboard Japan year-end charts for 2025, and was the most-streamed song on Spotify Japan<\/strong> for the year.<\/p>\n

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